"It's Elementary" - Universal Crossword 8/13/2020

Puzzles created by members of Xword-Muggles.com. Here you can post links to puzzles of any kind that you created - crosswords (meta or non-meta), cryptic, variety, word search, number puzzles, riddles, brainteasers and anything else.
Post Reply
damefox
Posts: 477
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 2:18 pm

"It's Elementary" - Universal Crossword 8/13/2020

#1

Post by damefox »

It's not a meta, but I had a crossword published by Universal today! This is syndicated in several places, but the easiest place I've found to get it online is: http://syndication.andrewsmcmeel.com/puzzles/crosswords. It's one of the first puzzles I ever wrote, so it's nice to see it published. Maybe it's a fun Thursday distraction before the main event at 4.
User avatar
Meg
Posts: 2136
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:41 pm
Location: St. Petersburg, FL

#2

Post by Meg »

The Fiend lists the Universal on her site under Today's Puzzles. Available in puz. I just printed it out.
Check out and support http://CrosswordsForCancer.com.
User avatar
BarbaraK
Posts: 2592
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 2:37 pm
Location: Virginia

#3

Post by BarbaraK »

Congratulations! Fun puzzle!
User avatar
boharr
Moderator
Posts: 3182
Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2019 8:57 am
Location: Westchester, NY

#4

Post by boharr »

Very enjoyable. Thanks.
User avatar
spotter
Posts: 311
Joined: Thu Sep 12, 2019 5:48 pm
Location: SLO, CA

#5

Post by spotter »

Fun puzzle, I liked the theme!
User avatar
C=64
Posts: 684
Joined: Mon Jun 08, 2020 8:29 pm
Location: PDX

#6

Post by C=64 »

Nice! I don't think 62D is historically accurate, but I was focusing on the across clues in that corner. :)
User avatar
Richard B.
Posts: 547
Joined: Sat May 16, 2020 1:58 pm
Location: upper west side, NYC

#7

Post by Richard B. »

Congratulations!. Enjoyed the theme. Thanks, Emma.
If you care to share, it would be interesting to hear about your experience with the submission - who, how long for acceptance, editing, and so forth. But only if you care to.
Laura M
Posts: 1384
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:49 am

#8

Post by Laura M »

Excellent puzzle, congrats!
User avatar
BrianMac
Site Admin
Posts: 787
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2019 11:45 pm
Location: Connecticut

#9

Post by BrianMac »

Congrats, Emma! Really loved the puzzle!
User avatar
Cindy
Posts: 1247
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 5:39 pm
Location: Matthews

#10

Post by Cindy »

Great conversation starter. I am an accountant who knows the 57a. Loved this.
damefox
Posts: 477
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 2:18 pm

#11

Post by damefox »

Richard B. wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 1:34 pm Congratulations!. Enjoyed the theme. Thanks, Emma.
If you care to share, it would be interesting to hear about your experience with the submission - who, how long for acceptance, editing, and so forth. But only if you care to.
Sure! I submitted this to Universal back on February 12. David Steinberg responded in a couple weeks that Universal would publish it if I made a couple tweaks first to some awkward fill. I tweaked it a little (I also changed a couple of theme entries, spoilers if you haven't done it, but originally most of the entries used elements where the symbol was just the element's first two letters, which I thought wasn't as interesting as using SILVER and GOLD, although CANE still follows the easier pattern) and sent it back, and according to my email correspondence this actually happened two more times over the course of about three weeks, and then I submitted what ended up being the final grid about a week before the world caught fire. David suddenly became swamped with COVID-related stuff, and I didn't hear anything more from him until the end of May. So that was a depressing couple of months (although, let's be real, the abandoned crossword was the least of my worries), but then David got back to me on May 25 and said the most recent version of the grid was good and I could go ahead and write the clues. As an apology for keeping me waiting for two months (after several weeks of pretty regular correspondence) he moved it up in the publication order. Originally, it was going to be published June 26, but in trying to spread out puzzles with element-related themes it got pushed back to today. And ta da, here we are. It's been a while since I wrote the clues, but going through it today I think David edited/changed only 3-5 clues. He gets 100% of the credit for 40D though, which was my favorite clue in the puzzle. Universal pays $110 for each 15x15 puzzle, which I received via direct deposit at the beginning of this week, if anyone's curious about the pay structure.

So, that's the long version of the Universal submission process. This puzzle is much older than February of this year because I submitted it to the NYT last September and was rejected, and for some reason it seems to take editors a lot longer to send rejections than to send acceptances.
User avatar
Meg
Posts: 2136
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 1:41 pm
Location: St. Petersburg, FL

#12

Post by Meg »

I LOVED the clue for 40d! I totally misinterpreted it, which was fun!
Check out and support http://CrosswordsForCancer.com.
User avatar
Abide
Moderator
Posts: 1273
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:16 pm
Location: Biloxi
Contact:

#13

Post by Abide »

Nice puzzle, and nice backstory. Is this your newsprint debut?
The site is just a web page, a meeting place, a clubhouse - it's the group that's special.
—Brian MacDonald
damefox
Posts: 477
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 2:18 pm

#14

Post by damefox »

Abide wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 10:46 pm Is this your newsprint debut?
Yes!
User avatar
boharr
Moderator
Posts: 3182
Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2019 8:57 am
Location: Westchester, NY

#15

Post by boharr »

I think they should have paid you more.
User avatar
joequavis
Posts: 500
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 12:29 pm
Location: Windsor, Colorado

#16

Post by joequavis »

I just found this...fantastic puzzle, Emma! Congratulations!
LesY
Posts: 678
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 4:21 pm

#17

Post by LesY »

This is a really really good crossword puzzle. I wanted more themers!
User avatar
ChrisKochmanski
Posts: 2157
Joined: Tue Apr 09, 2019 9:51 pm
Location: Saline, Michigan

#18

Post by ChrisKochmanski »

I'm just getting to this puzzle (traveling, other distractions). I'd like to do it, but when I click on the link, I get to the current day's Universal puzzle, and I don't offhand see how I can get back to the August 13 puzzle.

Help, anyone??
damefox
Posts: 477
Joined: Fri Aug 23, 2019 2:18 pm

#19

Post by damefox »

ChrisKochmanski wrote: Sun Aug 30, 2020 5:13 pm I'm just getting to this puzzle (traveling, other distractions). I'd like to do it, but when I click on the link, I get to the current day's Universal puzzle, and I don't offhand see how I can get back to the August 13 puzzle.

Help, anyone??
I PMed a link to the PDF (which I had the good sense to download before the puzzle disappeared from the online app), but I don't have a .puz file for the final version. If anyone else does please let me know.
User avatar
Abide
Moderator
Posts: 1273
Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:16 pm
Location: Biloxi
Contact:

#20

Post by Abide »

Here's the puz file (site maintained by Martin Herbach)

http://herbach.dnsalias.com/uc/uc200813.puz
The site is just a web page, a meeting place, a clubhouse - it's the group that's special.
—Brian MacDonald
Post Reply